A simple shelf display - painted backdrop, cotton 'snow', some trees, and a couple of Glitter Houses
While paperboard/cardboard houses have been around since at least the mid-1800's, Little Glitter Houses as we know them today didn't make their first appearance until the 1920s.when the Japanese offered them for sale here in the States. For a more detailed history, visit Papa Ted's Place . Ted Althof is one of the premier authorities of these charming Christmas decorations.
For some years now, Howard Lamey, of Jacksonville, Florida, has been making and selling Little Glitter Houses, in the tradition of the original Japanese but with updated designs. His website, Little Glitter Houses also includes detailed instructions on how to make your own houses. It is Howard's creations which will be featured over the next few weeks here at Toys & Stuff in preparation for the Yule time season.
But first there are a couple of other Glitter House and paperboard building resources you may be interested in. Paul Race, in collaboration with Howard and Papa Ted has set up a new website Cardboard Christmas dedicated to this art as a way to bring together disparate sources and links and to provide a discussion forum for Glitter Houses. The website is fairly new and does have a good deal of content already but will be growing even more as additional content is added. And the discussion forum is available for use right now.
The next site, Big Indoor Trains , is also owned by Paul Race and includes a lot of neat information on trains basically larger than HO scale. There is a portion of the site in which Paul plays host to Howard Lamey's projects. The section Tribute To Tinplate is devoted to the building of cardboard buildings - but with a twist!. Howard Lamey has taken traditional tinplate structures and provided instructions on how to build these using common materials, like paper, cardboard, white glue, etc. There are patterns, free downloads and photos showing the finished projects. Many of these projects fit in perfectly with the Glitter Houses and as you browse through the various sites listed here, you will see Little Glitter Houses mixed in with Tribute To Tinplate buildings.
We all know that the economy is in the tank and many of us simply don't have a lot of money for hobbies. Within the sites listed above are many projects that one can be involved with that are very cost effective (i.e., cheap) and satisfying. And remember, while Little Glitter Houses may be a Christmas tradition, one doesn't have to celebrate Christmas to enjoy the types of houses offered here. They make fine decorations for the Yule time or all year long. Enjoy!
(There is no specific cataloging system for theses buildings so the titles given are strictly arbitrary)
The House of Two Gables
[Base 4" (10.2cm) x 4 1/4" (10.8cm) x 4 3/8" (11.1cm) H]=
